Samsung has pushed the limits of what Android hardware should be for years now. From devices like the Note and its first launch to today with its foldable devices, Samsung pioneers the future. Now with the fourth generation of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 the visitor has seemingly turned the corner from innovation to iteration.
We’ve been testing a unit courtesy of AT&T for the last four weeks and are now ready to bring you our full review.
Design
Everything well-nigh the diamond of the Fold 4 screams refinement. The vital diamond is not overly reverted from the previous generation; however, they couldn’t finger any increasingly different. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is just nicer at every turn.
From the wastefulness in hand to the swivel of the dual screens, the Fold 4 simply leaps off the page as increasingly polished. The same can be said for how the under-screen camera fades yonder slightly largest this year. Plane the ruckle of the Fold 4’s screen has a slimmer footprint.
To the right side of the phone, you have the volume rockers and a power sawed-off that doubles as the fingerprint reader. You have dual firing speakers on the top and bottom, or side in portrait, of the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Lastly, the USB-C port for charging and data is found on the marrow right of the device.
Screen
This is still the merchantry end and innovation you want when shopping for the Fold 4. Much like our review of the previous generation, this modern marvel really gives you a one-of-a-kind Android experience. Having the worthiness to have both a slim snacks bar phone and a small tablet in your pocket still makes my nerd heart happy.
The dual-screened Fold 4 contains an exterior imbricate screen and the larger full-size tablet mode. The smaller of the two is a 6.2-inch screen with 2316×904 resolution under a Gorilla Glass Victus display. The flexible 7.6-inch inside screen sports a resolution of 2176×1812 with the exhibit taking up the unshortened footprint save a subconscious selfie camera.
When the Fold 4 is sealed you have a 6.2-inch imbricate screen. This is slightly improved with a bit wider width this year. While the spare space makes it largest to interact with on the imbricate screen, it’s still cramped for some apps and expressly typing. You can create a similar wits to that of most Galaxy devices in this mode, plane though the real manor is limited.
The imbricate screen is nice, but it’s the full-fledged victual tablet mode of the Fold 4 that makes it the most unique Android device on the market. Just as I did with the Fold 3, I have found myself using the 7.6-inch exhibit increasingly and in variegated usage cases than my regular daily Pixel 6.
Being worldly-wise to unshut the Fold 4 up to its full-sized glory creates a format that implores me to slosh increasingly content. I naturally watched increasingly YouTube and read increasingly comics during my testing period. Samsung really has found a device that serves a true dual purpose in the Fold 4.
While I didn’t have the traps with my test unit, I could hands see subtracting the Fold 4 specimen and S-Pen to add plane increasingly productivity. That combination might make it the perfect media device that can moreover be a workhorse for enterprise note-taking, video conferencing, etc.
Software
Again, Samsung leads the way for many features you’ll just find to be native to Android as these devices take a larger share of the future market. All the native apps, and many of Google’s, take wholesomeness of the spare real manor with multipane app modes. Or plane better, many of these apps like YouTube know when the Fold 4 is in “kickstand” mode and will position your video on half the screen in a vertical position.
I’d love to see these tweaks make it to all apps, but that will take time and developer buy-in. In the meantime, Samsung has made the software as friendly as you’d expect for the Fold 4 experience. Part of this investment was pushed to the Fold 4 with the OTA update for Android 12L while I had the unit.
This adds the persistent taskbar while in multi-task mode and honestly makes the Fold finger increasingly like a desktop while using the larger inside display. Here you get your pinned favorites on the far left of the part and then the last 2-3 most recent apps to the right of those icons. To the far right of the dock are the traditional Samsung Recents, Home, and Back navigation buttons.
The Android 12L additions are welcome and something that Android has needed for some time. The new persistent options indulge users to unchangingly have wangle to UI interactions that can be subconscious in other large phones or tablets.
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 takes anything you can throw at it without flinching. From games to hours of YouTube, I never saw this thing stumble. This is understandable with the pairing of the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and 12GB of RAM.
I can’t imagine many scenarios to slow it down. The Z Fold 4 plane ran pretty well with a 14-inch monitor using Samsung’s DEX desktop modes. Paired with a wireless mouse and keyboard I was surprised at how snappy and well the Fold 4 was worldly-wise to handle a very familiar workflow.
Storage in any of these modes isn’t a problem either. Our review unit has 512GB of mass storage onboard which is increasingly than unbearable for most users and the lower 256GB model should moreover have plenty of room for unstudied buyers as well.
Cameras
This was flipside surprise for me. I’ve never been overly impressed by the cameras on Galaxy devices. I’ve found them good but not in the same matriculation as any Pixel device. Last year’s Fold was not anything to write home well-nigh and unquestionably struggled to take quality photos at times.
I’m happy to report that’s not the specimen this year. Range and focus seem much largest on the Fold 4 as well as post-processing by the updated CPU. Any scrutinizingly any lighting I found this to be the weightier Galaxy camera I’ve used in recent memory. I’d winnow a rencontre with a Pixel for the first time on Galaxy.
Battery
Endurance is not bad, either. While you can wham threw the shower cells if you push this thing for a couple of hours, I think most users will be well-appointed with a day’s use per charge. No one is tweaking this out for two days as their daily driver, but for most days, shower uneasiness shouldn’t be an issue.
The eyeful of this is lower power consumption with the much less hungry Imbricate Screen. Most unstudied tasks can be handled here without draining as much battery. Then when you need to chug through an hour of video, you can unshut the Fold 4 and shrivel through those cells.
Conclusion
Samsung has been pushing Android hardware forward since the whence and the new Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the latest device moving the needle of what’s possible in the mobile landscape. This is an outstanding iteration of the infant foldable market that takes it into just regular phone territory.
Pricing for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 may be the only drawback. The full price over at AT&T is $1,800 out of your wallet, but payments are moreover an option. For the 256GB model you can get by at $50 per month. Add $3 increasingly on that plan, though, and you can snag the 512GB edition.
Each is misogynist in three colors to suit your fancy: Gray Green, Phantom Black, and Beige. If you slosh a ton of media or just love having a unique phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 fits the bill.
